Creating Political and Social Spaces for Transcultural Community Integration

• Published in: Transcultural Cities pp. 207 - 221
• Main Authors: Mai, Trinh, Schmit, Kimberly
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2013
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Placemaking; Iii; Border Crossing; Transcultural; BRIDGING; Cities; Crossing; Transcultural Cities
• ISBN: 0415631424; 9780415631419; 0415631416; 9780415631426
• DOI: 10.4324/9780203075777-19

Following a global trend, the United States has experienced a significant increase in immigration in the last four decades. Historically a White state, Utah has emerged as one of the new American immigrant gateways; in the past two decades, it has experienced a dramatic demographic shift. From 1990 to 2010 the number of foreign-born in the state nearly quadrupled from 58,600 to 222,638 (Migration Policy Institute, 2012). Latinos led this growth, increasing by 78 percent from 2000 to 2010 according to the 2010 census (US Census Bureau, 2012). In Utah's state capital, Salt Lake City, west side neighborhoods (two zip code areas and fifteen census tracts) comprising 66,701 of the city's 186,440 residents have become home to many of these newcomers. The Latina/o population in west side neighborhoods has seen a 32.4 percent increase in the last ten years, amounting to 46.5 percent of the total area population and 74.5 percent of the wider Salt Lake City population (Dowden, 2012). More than 60 percent of west side residents are minoritized populations. As a preferred site for refugee resettlement, from 2000 to 2009, more than 8,103 refugees arrived in Utah (Department of Workforce Services: Refugee Services Office, 2012). Many of Salt Lake City's refugee-background population reside on Salt Lake City's west side.